Jessica Burshell
University of Toronto
Dynamics of Sensegiving for Ongoing Media Coverage: A quantitative case study of green building rating systems
ABSTRACT
Distinctiveness can be a double-edged sword when it positions a product outside audience awareness. This is problematic because attention is a critical step preceding consumption decisions. Organizations may try to overcome the perceptual gap with audiences by attracting media coverage through sensegiving. Recent work demonstrates that media coverage is responsive to sensegiving activities that match the media organizations’ information needs. However, the information needs of media outlets may function differently over time such that sensegiving activities may vary in their effectiveness based on the amount of prior coverage received. I test and find support for a hypothesis to this effect in the context of commercial, national green building rating systems in the United States.
BIOGRAPHY
Jessica Burshell is a Doctoral Candidate in Strategic Management at the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management. Her research focuses on the processes through which social understanding of new products and market categories may develop, and particularly the role of organizations as actors that both influence and respond to those processes.